Typical multiple gob glass feeders have reciprocating plungers associated with each feeder orifice and are provided with a circular or cylindrical tube which surrounds the plungers and extends downwardly into the molten glass. The bottom of the tube in cooperation with the upper edge of the orifice in the bottom of the feeder bowl will dictate, to a great extent, the volume of glass which will be held within the tube over the feeder orifices. In these situations the plungers occupy a significant portion of the central part of the feeder tube, however, there is a considerable area at either side of the row of plungers which may be subject to loss of heat from the surface of the glass within the tube by convection and radiation vertically upward from the surface. It has become more advantageous to provide glass melting feeders with more than a single feeder orifice, in order to feed the more advanced glass forming machines which have plural cavity molds, and it is important to conserve as much energy as possible when feeding multiple charges of molten glass simultaneously. This is certainly more important now with the advent of the "quad" or quadruple gob glass forming machine, which is coming to the fore.
With this in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for feeding a plurality of charges of molten glass simultaneously through plural feeder orifices in the bottom of the feeder in which each feeder orifice has a vertically-positioned plunger thereabove and, to conserve heat, a heat baffle is provided to block the exiting of heat from the surface of the glass on adjacent sides of the row of plungers associated with the plurality of plunger mechanisms in the typical glass feeder. Glass feeder bowls are of the general configuration of a round-nosed bowl open at one side and into which molten glass is fed from an elongated forehearth. The bottom of the bowl is provided with a generally circular opening, and within this opening is positioned an orifice pan which carries a ceramic orifice member having the desired number of orifices therethrough, corresponding to the number of gobs which it is to produce simultaneously for the glass forming machine. In the present case, the feeder is for providing 4 gobs or charges of molten glass simultaneously to be delivered to a plural section glass forming machine. In view of the fact these feeder bowls are elevated some 10-15 feet above the level of the floor on which the forming machine will be resting, the charges or gobs are delivered by gravity.